Meet Your New Professor!
Gracefully jumping down, she said to Dumbledore, "Sorry about that. Someone" -She looked pointedly at the ceiling- "messed with my coordinates."
Smiling, Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Yes, I see."
Looking between Dumbledore and Serenity (whom he did not recognize), Snape burst out, "Who are you?!" He didn't want to be in the same room as this insane woman, who appeared on their table, yelled out nonsense, then accused the ceiling of messing up her coordinates, not to mention the fact that she apparated on Hogwarts grounds. Which brought him his next question: "How did you apparate here?"
"Oh I didn't," said Serenity innocently, shaking her head. "No, you see apparating isn't that strong. I teleport. Teleporting is way more efficient, and there is less chance of being put back together wrong. When you apparate, you separate into particles, but when teleporting, your whole being is just transferred to a new location... I think." She shrugged cutely, and turned her attention to the Headmaster. "So, you read my letter?"
"That I did," said Dumbledore. "I would be honored to have you as a professor, though I am not sure Professor Binns will go quietly."
Serenity smirked. "I'll take care of that! Oi! Binns! Get your little translucent butt out here!" Looking extremely ruffled, Professor Binns emerged from the wall. "Okay Binns, here's the sitch: you leave, I teach. Get it? Got it? Good!"
"Excuse me?" asked Binns looking outraged. "I am a respected member of this faculty. I provide quality education to young wizards and witches!"
Looking as if to say "uh huh, yeah, sure, whatever you say", Serenity said, "Um, news flash Professor: you're boring! Plus your dead! Don't you want to like, head off into the light or something?" She made shooing motion with her hands.
Usagi who had been watching the scene with great interest, gaped silently at her mother. "Kami-sama. I've never seen her like this!"
"You know her?" asked Harry looking at the pink haired girl. Ron and Hermione also turned their attention to her.
"Yeah, and so do you," giggled Usagi. They looked at her blankly, then turned their attention to the woman.
She was not very tall, five foot five at most. She had long golden hair with silver highlights pulled into a French braid. Her eyes were a startling clear cerulean blue. She wore a short white dress that ended four inches above the knee, and silver robes over it. On her feet were white high-heeled shoes. On her ring finger, there was a beautiful wedding ring.
Harry's brow furrowed in confusion. I don't know any woman that looks like that. The only woman that comes close was Cosmos, but she looked totally different.
Hermione too was trying to figure out who the woman was. She knew she had seen her before, but where? Then it hit her. "Serenity..." she muttered.
"You got it," giggled Usagi.
Looking at the girl, Hermione realized, "Small Lady Serenity Usagi Chiba Tsukino!"
Sighing, Usagi replied, "Call me Usagi."
"Now see here Miss!" snapped Snape at Serenity. "What business do you have insulting the staff of this school?" Dumbledore seemed to have taken a great interest in a package of sherbet lemons.
"Tsk, tsk Snape! I thought you learned to hold your tongue, what with that whole lightning scenario, but it appears not..." Serenity put her hands on her hips in mock disappointment.
"How do you know about that?" Snape growled.
Smirking, Serenity yelled, "Cosmos Star Power! Make Up!" In a flurry of silver ribbons and a flash of bright light, there stood Sailor Cosmos in all her glory. Usagi was shocked to see that this impressive warrior was her mother. Who would have thought?
Barely containing her laughter, Cosmos smiled at Snape. "Answer your question?" Snape didn't answer but shock was evident on his face. She turned back into Serenity and turned to the students. "Oh yes, and I have someone I want to introduce to you all. Usagi, sweetheart, please come up here."
Usagi slowly got up and walked to her mother. "Hogwarts! This is my daughter! Serenity Usagi Chiba Tsukino!" Usagi slowly lifted her hand and gave a hesitant wave as her mother put an arm around her shoulder. "I expect you all to be nice to her." She glared, as if to say, "Or else!" "Go back to your table now Usagi."
Nodding, Usagi walked back to her spot at the Gryffindor. The students looked at her in shock.
"Now Binns, what do you say? I can send you anywhere you want like that," said Serenity snapping her fingers. "Majorca, Hawaii, Crystal Tokyo..." she trailed off seeing the thoughtful look on the ghost's face.
"I will give you the position, but I will remain at Hogwarts," said Professor Binns at last. Serenity nodded.
"Well, now that that's sorted out," said Dumbledore rising to his feet, "I would like to welcome your new History Professor, Serenity - err..."
"Cosmos," smiled Serenity.
"Cosmos," agreed Dumbledore. "Now, as happy as we all are to have you back (Snape snorted), I'm sure we're all wondering how it is that you came back."
"I will tell you," said Serenity, "but I think it would be best to bring out the food, ne?" The food instantly appeared to the joy of the students who immediately began filling their plates. "Well, it's kind of a funny story," smiled Serenity, but upon further reflection, she said, "no, actually it's not, but it is simple. I killed myself." The words rippled through the hall and everyone was silent. Serenity nodded sadly. "I couldn't take the darkness anymore. It was overwhelming. So, I did a very selfish thing, I turned my staff upon my self."
"It wasn't selfish!" objected Usagi loudly. "In my book, you had the right. It's those Fates that are selfish! They were using you without a thought to your feelings!"
"As true as that may be," agreed Serenity, "I still had a duty. Anyways, I floated in limbo for who knows how long... but obviously it wasn't long for it's the start of the next school year. Then one day, I saw a light. I followed it. Then I opened my eyes, found I was in a room and discovered that my family and friends were all alive, as well as the rest of the universe. Setsuna said it was because if they hadn't, I would have kept killing myself, and frankly, I think she's correct. So yeah, then I decided that I wanted Usagi to come here, so I had to ask the Fates. They agreed, but only if I came."
"Why do I get the feeling that she's leaving something out?" whispered Hermione to her friends.
"Yeah, I mean why would the Fates send her here with no real purpose?" added Harry.
"I think you all should stay out of it," said Usagi coldly. "Don't go messing in other people's affairs."
"Us? Meddle? Never!" said Ron. Usagi arched an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe sometimes, but only when it's really important."
"So it was really important you find out about my mother last year?" asked Usagi innocently.
"Yes," said Hermione. "We needed to know if she was evil or not."
"And you couldn't just have left it to the Professors?" inquired Usagi curiously.
"If we left it to the professors, Voldemort would have been immortal, Tom Riddle would have come to life, Ginny would be dead, and loads more!" stated Harry fiercely.
"I have the feeling they know more than you give them credit for," Usagi said, amused. "People can surprise you, you know. That was proven today."
"How do you mean?" asked Hermione.
"My mother," smirked Usagi. "She used to be a klutzy, ditzy, boy crazy, crybaby of a glutton who couldn't fight at all." They looked at her in shock. This totally clashed with their view of Cosmos- err- Serenity - err- Professor Cosmos.
"Hey!!! I heard that!" came the indignant cry from Serenity who was now seated at the teacher's table. "I won lots of fights!" She started ticking off fingers. "Beryl, Mistress 9, Pharaoh 90, Nehelania , Galaxia, Chaos..." she trailed off. "And just for the record, you were just as bad with the youmas as I was!"
"Hey! I was a little girl! You were a teenager!" defended Usagi.
"You were nine-hundred and three years old [1]! I was fourteen!" exclaimed Serenity. Now the people in the hall were extremely confused. Was it just them, or something seriously off with the timelines here? "Besides, I'm not the one who became evil!"
"Yeah, but I'm not the one who got jealous of my boyfriend because he was taking care of a little girl!"
"How was I supposed to know you were my daughter from the future?" demanded Serenity.
"I don't know," said Usagi.
Serenity sighed, though her eyes were shining with amusement. "Truce?"
"Truce," agreed Usagi. The students and staff stared at the two royals as both mother and daughter went back to eating like nothing had happened.
"Well, that was different," said Ron at last.
"Do you two always do that?" asked Harry.
"No," responded Usagi. "Usually only when it's the two of us. It's our way of communicating, but don't worry, it's all fun, we don't mean any of what we say.In fact, the people she loves most, she argues with."
"Like who?" wondered Hermione.
"Well, there's me of course, and then there's my father. When they first met, they tormented each other, or he tormented her and she gave feeble attempts at revenge," giggled Usagi, looking at her mother who was mock glaring at her. "Yep, he use to call her odango atama." She laughed. Seeing their puzzled looks, she added, "It means dumpling head. It was because of her hair. It's like mine," She gestured to her cone-shaped buns, "only hers are perfectly round. Oh, and then there's Rei, or Sailor Mars. They had a lot of disputes, but Mars was and is probably one of her most loyal senshi."
The four continued to chat throughout dinner, Usagi talking about the senshi, though not in great detail, and Crystal Tokyo. In turn, Harry, Ron and Hermione filled her in on their years at Hogwarts, including the one previous, which interested Usagi to no end. Sure she had heard it from her mother, but she wanted to hear it from their point of view. What she came across was that her mother hadn't been the most social of people, but judging by the fact that she was talking amiably with Professor Lupin, she guessed that was not the case this year.
Nearing the end of the feast, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. "It seems that we will be having a transfer student from Durmstrang this year. He excels in all his studies, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he will be coming here at the beginning of October. I hope you all will be very kind to him. Now, to the school song!"
There was a mixture of tunes as all the students in the hall picked their favourite melody and sang the song to it. Usagi looked questioningly at her mother - who just laughed - before shrugging and singing. After the horri - wonderful school song, Dumbledore bid them farewell and all the students went to bed.
Usagi, however, stayed to talk to her mother for a moment.
"What do you think?" Serenity asked her daughter.
"It's wonderful!" exclaimed Usagi. "There's just one thing…"
Frowning, Serenity asked, "Nani?"
"Can we install that in the palace?" inquired Usagi, pointing to the ceiling.
[1] - That's how old she was in the manga, though she looked about five or six. That's why - in the manga - she wanted so badly to be a lady: She'd been waiting for over nine-hundred years.
Hope you liked the chapter and thanks for the review! Sixteen reviews for one chapter! Anyways, ja!
